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Neon Reverb Q&A: YACHT

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Bechtolt (left) and Evans drop anchor in Las Vegas Saturday night.
Photo: Aalin Dragulin
Leslie Ventura

Do you consider YACHT to be a political band?

CE: We’re political in the sense that we live our lives as though whatever revolution we would fight for has already been won. We do everything ourselves; we don’t rely on other people; we keep our expenses and overhead low so we can live the life we want to live, and that for us is inherently political because we aren’t participating in any systems we don’t want to participate in. But we aren’t preaching. We’re just doing it the way we want to do it.

Is the “official tattoo policy” (about "acceptable use of YACHT iconography") on your website real?

JB: Yes, it is. I mean, obviously no one has to take it seriously, but if someone seriously wants to get a YACHT tattoo and wants to know what we genuinely think about that idea, they should totally follow the policy. [And] weirdly enough, a lot of people have used it. A lot of people are getting YACHT tattoos, and that’s why we made it.

CE: I think some people have a sense of us as a band that has a lot of rules, because we lay out the fundamentals of our belief system in a pretty pragmatic way. … We want to encourage people to be spontaneous about it, but at the same time there are people that want that structure. That’s why we lay out the text the way that we do.

Utopia is a reoccurring theme on your latest album [Shangri-La]. How has traveling shaped that concept?

CE: We’re lucky enough to have fans that are really engaged in the ideology of the band and really want to talk to us about everything … things you wouldn’t believe, about the paranormal, about spirituality, about design, about art, about personal empowerment. Also, every night when we’re on the road, creating temporary spaces that are our own, it allows us to walk the walk of our philosophy. … We’re constantly creating impermanent utopias that people can share with us.

Do you think you could ever see Las Vegas as a utopia?

CE: Sure. Any place, really, where we can create a space that is fun and compassionate and exciting and temporary is a utopia in our minds.

JB: And if anyone that reads this has any tips for us for something to do in Vegas that aligns with our interests, they should totally get in touch.

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